The Wake #2 Review

You will never look at The Little Mermaid the same way again.

The first issue of The Wake sent an electric tingle up my spine with its eerie tone and gripping art, all with the notion of a watery apocalypse hanging over it. The second chapter does a lot to build on that groundwork, although the electric tingle is gone because we have to sit through a lot of explaining which ultimately robs the story of its forward momentum. That said, this is still a gorgeous comic book with a gripping horror mystery at its core.

Writer Scott Snyder uses a format that explores three different points in time, but the flow gets off kilter when he presents the events of the second section out of chronological order. We learn just a smidgen more about our protagonist, an antagonist steps forward in the group, and the freaky merman gets his origin laid bare, in a sense. By providing the answers to so many obvious questions up front, Snyder effectively sweeps our expectations off the table, leaving us at the mercy of whatever twisted machinations he has in store.

And boy does this book get twisted, but not in a blood-and-gore type of way. That can be attributed to Sean Murphy’s scratchy and engrossing linework. Snyder’s mystery is no doubt what brought many readers to this book, but it’s Murphy’s art that sucks you in and won’t let go. The way he bends reality with the more surreal elements of the book is just fantastic, and if the disturbing closing pages are any indication, things are only going to get crazier.

Joshua writes for IGN. If Pokemon, Game of Thrones, or Green Lantern are frequently used words in your vocabulary, then you’ll want to follow him on Twitter and IGN.